Heaven's Wrath
by DigiHaunted
Summary: A powerful new form of Dust is introduced to the world of Remnant from the Moon, and with it a great new power. The fate of Team DOVE is forever changed when they receive a mission from Ozpin himself to secure a fallen shard of the Moon.
1. Patrol

Olivia's hand went up as they reached a clearing. _Halt_. "Quiet." She said. The team lookout, Olivia, was a tall and stern-looking girl with sharp eyes and a sharp mind, her body all hard edges and lines. The rolled up sleeve of her too-large white trench coat and the magazine belt tight around her waist revealed just how thin the girl was. The coat fanned out above and below the two buttons at her waist, showing her black combat skirt and ice-blue t-shirt, which matched her ice-blue eyes. Her face further lent to her serious demeanor, her pale color, thin lips, and tiny nose made her look cold and intimidating. The only warm feature of the girl was her dark red hair, which fell to her waist in a very tight ponytail with ice-blue bands every few inches. Much like her wardrobe, Olivia is very tight and controlled, and usually doesn't speak much more than a word or two if at all, and when she does, people listen.

"Listen." As both their earlier conversation and footsteps died, they at last took notice of the forest around them. After the last fallen leaf had settled to the ground, the total absence of their own sounds allowed the silence of their surroundings come forth and hang over them. There was no wind in the leaves. No bird calls. No squirrels dashing through the branches. The sounds of the forest they had patrolled so many times before had slowly vanished. "Hear it?" asked Olivia.

"Hear what?" answered Erol.

"Exactly." said Olivia.

All of them finally noticed it, they were all visibly bothered by the unnatural quiet of forest around them. This was the quiet that unsettled the mind. This was the sort for which one will imagine sounds to fill the void and comfort the troubled mind. There was a quick rush of air ahead, a short rustle of leaves. "Grimm," warned Olivia, as she drew her straight sword. All of DOVE followed suit. Shortly after she spoke, she saw tall black hide between the trees at the far end of the clearing and more to the team's right. "Ursi, few." She added. Two Ursi emerged from the trees ahead and began gaining speed.

Confident with his teammate, Dorren called over to Erol "Just a few Ursi, looks like your line of work Erol." Erol only turned back to Dorren with a look of disdain, his face an unspoken "Really?" "Get out there, we didn't get a good spar in this week and the warm-up will do you some good." Erol felt a small chill as he heard that. He would most certainly trade fighting a few relentless, growling Ursi before sparring with Dorren any day. Dorren and Erol had been sparring almost since Team DOVE's inception over a year ago, Erol winning a sparse few times. When they began, Dorren could easily smash through his guard despite his shield, but has since become less of a problem. These Ursi would be like the fall breeze on his shield compared to Dorren's massive greatsword Monolith.

Erol was a much smaller young man than Dorren, as most of them were. Being of only an average height and build, he was actually about as tall as Olivia but considerably more hardy. When he joined Team DOVE he was nowhere near the point he was today, the physique beneath his full body armor a direct result of sparring with Dorren and desire to become his equal. He held a calm face until he turned and started toward the Ursi to let the anger reach his face. He resented Dorren's leadership, not for its quality but its mere presence. His brown eyes narrowed and teeth gritted in anger, he charged toward the Ursi.

Olivia turned back to Dorren, who only nodded. She switched her grip on her sword and planted it hilt-first into the sheath. The sword was pulled further inside and the blade split down the middle, spreading to become the arms of an already strung crossbow. At the same time, the sheath was unfolding to become the stock and she reached to pull a bolt clip from her belt. She slapped the magazine into place and was looking down the sight while her partner was still running to meet the Ursi. Midway between the them and the Ursi, Erol planted his feet and yelled "Come and die!" "_He would,_" thought Olivia as she zeroed in the distance, Erol will move little from that position. She heard the two in front, and was fairly certain at least one more was to the right of Erol's position and prepared to intercept the flanker. "If he isn't an idiot, he should have his own Surprise in store for them."

Erol had yet to draw Tiger, instead his hand reached over his shoulder. When the charging Ursi reached only a few meters from him, his hand flashed forward and one of his tomahawks was already en route to the left Ursa's head. Erol followed through with the motion to reach for Tiger at his waist. The left Ursa tried to duck away from the tomahawk, only to still catch it with its shoulder, miss a stride, and tumble. The right Ursa continued without its partner, already committed to the assault. The Ursa made a hard right swipe, using the momentum of its charge. Erol stepped left and let the swipe glance harmlessly off of his shield. Now standing to the Ursa's side, he took Tiger in a low arc that connected gruesomely with the Ursa's back leg, nearly removing it with one swing.

As the Ursa lost balance, Erol switched targets to the Ursa that still had his axe in its shoulder. It was recovering, and swung its good arm at him, only to be blocked and have a second axe buried through its shoulder and well into its torso. With a choked cry, the Ursa was rapidly dying. After some effort, Erol removed Tiger from the Ursa as the still live one began hobbling to help its now fallen friend. Crippled as it was, it unsuccessfully tried to fight back as Erol easily maneuvered to its side and severed its arm. Then its head.

Erol put away Tiger and leisurely made his way to the Ursa that still had his axe. He had removed the axe from the slain beast and began working it back into the rig over his shoulder when a third Ursa stormed from the trees only a short distance from Erol. Olivia, already prepared, had began quickly lining up a shot when Dorren put a hand over her crossbow. The broken concentration made her jump, she turned to Dorren with a curse on her lips when they all heard the frightening, sharp report of Surprise. Erol was ready.

It was an older Ursa too, with much thicker plating and spikes than the dead two. When they all turned to see the expected carnage they were not surprised. The Ursa was largely intact except for most of its torso, now a gaping cavity created by Surprise's fearsome blast. Surprise was the high-powered high-scatter shotgun nestled behind Erol's shield, just under his arm. The gun was largely useless at a distance, but its unanticipated and convenient location yield devastating results in very close range.

"Playing dumb, even I could barely tell you were acting," jested Dorren.

He made a pouting face at Dorren. "I knew it from the start, when Olive says a few she means more than two."

"Yeah, at least give him some credit." added Vi.

"Oh, so you aren't a moron..." said Olivia. Vi had began to speak when they all realized what had just happened. They had all just heard the closest thing to a joke from Olivia; and Erol was the target. Dorren and Vi burst out laughing, and Erol couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Even Olivia cracked and smiled. She can't have him call her Olive and get away with it.

Dorren became more serious. "Really though, I saw that you were on to them and baited the last one out. Good work." Erol just nodded and gave a short "Thanks" as Dorren continued, "We all check the rest of the clearing, there may be more." They walked a quick circle at the edge of the clearing and found nothing else in the area. During the round, Olivia edged closer to Dorren. All she said was "Lucky."

As they reached their entrance to the clearing again, Vi piped up, "And I was really hoping the Deathstalker was hanging around..." She sounded almost disappointed. Vi was the team's Dust user, who rather than casting on the fly preferred to focus her power to devastating effect. She is the shortest on the team, almost a head shorter than Olivia and Erol. Unlike her teammate Olivia, nearly everything about her is warm and inviting; her face rounded, her skin fair, and hair a bright golden blonde. She was cheerful, adventurous, and her eyes burned red like her favorite kind of Dust.

"I just want this to be over with... we've been wandering all damned day." complained Erol.

"Patrolling," Dorren corrected. Second-year students at Beacon Academy were required to make bi-weekly patrols of the forest surrounding the bustling city of Vale for either a specific mark, which was their case, or general population control. He checked his scroll, it was almost 2 P.M. and they had been out since morning. "Now does seems like as good a time as any for a break, any in opposition?" No one argued.

Team DOVE took a seat beneath some trees at the edge of the clearing. As per usual Dorren and Vi made idle chatter, Erol sat by, occasionally adding in his commentary and Olivia took stock of their surroundings while listening in to the conversation. It was a beautiful day, outside of the fast-decaying corpses of the Ursi nearby. The sunlight filtered through the trees, creating mottled shadow patterns on them all as they lazed in their own way. The early fall leaves were beginning to change, they would have a slight rasp to their sound if only the wind would blow. Then Olivia noticed, or rather continued to notice the still silent forest. She continued to look all around, she even checked the sky for an incoming Nevermore but found nothing, and then her gaze settled on the moon.

It was not unusual, actually rather common to see it during the day patiently waiting for its bright, lofty partner to set. Something seemed different, though; something was just off. It was the strangest feeling, something one has seen their whole life exactly the same, which has since been violated. This unease drove her to look even closer, until she saw it; what looked like a little star right next to the moon. "_Dorren needs to see this_," she thought, and stood up. This got everyone's attention, and she motioned for them to do the same and then pointed to the sky. One by one, they eventually noticed the little star. They all stood mystified, questioning what it could be. "It can't be a star," Dorren said finally. "Those don't just appear out of the blue." His musing went unanswered.

As they were beginning to lose interest in their little star, it twinkled for just a moment and then winked out of existence. This immediately recaptured their attention, their star was no star at all, but a meteor or a comet and had just crashed into the moon. As they watched in awe, a tiny plume of debris grew from the crash site. They all stood in silence and watched the plume slowly expand. A few minutes after the impact, the silence was broken by Dorren's scroll. It was Professor Ozpin, their Headmaster. "Good afternoon, how fares your mark?"

"It still lives, we've seen no trace of the Deathstalker from the reports." said Dorren.

"Too bad. Have you been looking to the skies today?" Questioned the Headmaster.

"We just were, you killed the moment," joked Dorren.

Ozpin chuckled. "Apologies. Moment or not, you have a new task assigned by the Academy itself, consider this your briefing. We know that as of a few minutes ago, a small celestial body impacted the moon at high speed, propelling debris from the moon in all directions, including toward us here on Remnant. Calculations have just finished and place a relatively large shard of the debris to land in your vicinity tomorrow morning. Rather than show the academy's hand in the matter we have elected to keep our staff on site and only arrive very shortly after the impact while your team gets there first and secures the area. Students, this objective may be the single greatest astronomical development in our time, but if our theories are correct it may prove to be much more than that. Needless to say, you are now conducting Beacon Classified Business, not a word leaves myself and your team. Following this call, you will receive coordinates for a camp favored by Hunters and Huntresses, as it is an easily defensible point and is recommended for your overnight stay. Dismissed."


	2. Heaven's Might

The campsite was easy enough to find. Ozpin's coordinates placed them on a hilltop campsite overlooking the forest. To the west, they could see the clearing where they found the Ursi, and beyond that the city of Vale in the distance. To the south, the forest stretched as far as the eye could see, and to the east and north the forest began to diminish to an occasional tree. The campsite itself was a simple affair set on a gently sloping hill, with a stone fire pit in the center and a ring of flattened earth.

The leader's stomach growled as he took a seat by the pit, and soon the team responded with their own groans as they were reminded of food. "Ugh. We've been out all day and we haven't eaten since… since breakfast!" Vi anguished.

"You're right, we've just been having so much fun we forgot about food." Offered Dorren. Vi returned a sour look.

"That doesn't change the fact that we don't have food," complained Erol.

"Ooooh… I don't wanna hunt on an empty stomach." said Vi.

"Ignoring Vi's odd logic there, I'm going to call Ozpin, there may be a cache somewhere." said Dorren as he dialed the Headmaster again.

"Dorren here, we've reached the campsite. Please tell me there are supplies stocked here." he pleaded.

"Indeed there are," answered the Headmaster. "There is a Beacon crest in the bottom of the fire pit, as students of Beacon you may press any of your scrolls to open it as you would your dorm room. Take as much as you need, you all need to be in top shape tomorrow."

Dorren let out a sigh of relief, anything to make this night's stay easier. It was now evening, and after a long day of walking, he knew without the input of the team that they were all tired. "Good."

"The debris will land about a mile to your north early in the morning. Stay at the campsite until it lands. Any questions?"

"None."

"Get your rest, Dismissed."

Ozpin clicked off the line and Dorren addressed the team, "Good news! We have supplies, we'll find out what that means soon enough." The whole team's demeanor brightened. The ashes were swept out of the fire pit, revealing a perfectly flat metal face with the Beacon Academy crest etched onto it. Dorren brought his scroll close to the crest, which responded with a beep and a click. The area inside the fire pit descended and then withdrew inside of what was a large safe buried in the ground. The tired team DOVE did not even attempt to hide their excitement. Inside were four bedrolls and more than enough field ration packs and bottled water for them to have modest meals that night and the following morning.

Team DOVE was hungry enough to not complain about the ration packs. They ate in silence, as words meant taking a break from eating. One by one they finished their meals and laid down on their bedrolls around the pit. "Oh! We need a fire!" came Vi out of nowhere.

"It's getting dark, we'll both go to find wood." Dorren said as he stood up. "Ugh, we should have done this before we ate..."

"Yeah..." Vi trailed off. "It should be quick though, there was a dead tree not far back..." she suggested a little too happily.

"We will not need an entire tree this evening..."

"Just wanted to present the possibility."

"Hah, well... it will be faster than searching for it all." Dorren mused.

Vi clasped her hands in front of her, excited, "Really?"

Dorren sighed "Sure, but the whole thing is not coming back with us." Vi deflated with a grumble. "Come on, let's find this tree."

When they arrived back at the campsite darkness had already set in, Dorren dropped the entire limb that he had carried back and Vi the bundle under her left arm and maintained the torchlight in her hand. "Did you bring back enough?" asked Erol.

Dorren humored his sarcasm, "I almost brought the whole tree, but it was too large to fit down the path." All Dorren got back was a "Hmph" as he drew his sword Monolith from his back to chop the wood, an easy task in its short, heavy broadsword from. Soon the pair had all they needed, a bed of small sticks for a start and a stack of logs for the long haul of the night.

"Alright, let's-" started Dorren.

"Shh, Shh, Shh… this is my favorite part." said Vi.

"Anything catching fire is your favorite part." claimed Dorren. Through the warm, burning light in her hand he saw the pyro's mouth spread in a bright smile and let a cute chuckle escape. On such a boring day she didn't get to break out her dust and burn anything, she couldn't wait any longer. The light flicked into the fire and fell through to the bottom, where Vi slowly fed it more dust and coaxed the wood to life.

"Happy now?" asked Dorren.

"Yep!" said Vi, still grinning widely.

"Okay, camp is made and we need our rest. Normal watch rotation tonight."

Dawn broke over the treetops near the end of Vi's watch, streaming bright pinks and yellows off of the clouds in the morning sky. She sat with her back to the dying fire, facing the east where the giant burning orb was revealing itself to the world once again. Nervous, she closed her eyes and explored her mind. "Why am I so worried?" she questioned herself, unable to shake the anxiety. "We all have no idea what will happen when the meteor touches down, all hell may break loose. We just don't know." One of life's most crippling fears, the unknown, the kind of fear that shuts down the mind. It cannot be allowed to run rampant. The mind takes it and runs, fleeting from possibility to possibility, mounting fear upon fear. Failing to silence her mind on her own, she continued to 'Plan B,' distraction.

She called a bit of fire dust from its canister to form a mote of light in her hand. With a mischievous smile she flicked the speck from her hand. The light drifted lazily down until it came to rest in the dirt, sizzling. "Here it comes…" Suddenly, the speck burst like a whip crack, eliciting a prompt response from the sleeping three. Erol let out a whimper and his bedroll curled into a tight ball, Olivia sat bolt upright and turned a deadpan face to the prankster, and Dorren simply came to life groggily.

"Damned sadistic alarm clock…" came muffled from the balled-up bedroll.

Eventually the team was up meals were passed out, now eaten in a different silence than the evening meal. This silence was their collective apprehension hanging in the air. All knew that conversation would fall flat, clearly an escape from thinking about what may come to pass. Instead they found solidarity solely in their company itself, almost a year and a half spent as a team, togetherness was all they needed to keep despair from finding a foothold.

Next was the worst part: waiting. The team could only occupy themselves for a few minutes cleaning up the camp until they all found themselves seated again on the dirt around the dead fire. The maddening boredom persisted until the quietest one stood up and drew her sword. The slim straight sword appeared as a deadly shining thread in the morning light held at the ready. She practiced parries and ripostes, feints and thrusts, and soon the air was punctuated by light steps and the wispy sound of her sword slaying an invisible foe. The leader looked over to the axeman and gave a tip of his head, both rose and drew their own weapons. Soon the camp was a symphony of whirring blades and silent death.

Preferring her dust, Vi kept her seat on the ground and held out a hand. Bringing some fire into her hand, she willed it into the smallest, hottest ball she could muster. The fire had been concentrated to the size of a marble when Dorren's scroll rang. They all knew who it was.

"It is almost time," said Ozpin. "Some of our professors will be leaving school grounds shortly and arrive after the impact to relieve your team. If you look to the sky, your objective is drawing near."

The Moonstone was clearly visible in the morning light, or rather its burning stream could be seen as it was beginning to enter the upper atmosphere. "It is only a few minutes until it crashes to the ground," Ozpin continued. "I would advise you find cover when it lands, we don't know the damage it may cause on impact. I will see you when you return." With that he hung up.

"Hm. That was... short." observed Dorren. "It will land soon, we need to find cover." They decided on taking cover on the side of the hill opposite the expected impact site, affording them a view of the scene as well as cover. They watched the light in the sky grow brighter, as it drew closer they could see the atmosphere trying to tear the shard apart. Small chunks were breaking off with a distant popping sound and the main mass was glowing as bright as the Sun at the other end of the sky.

The Shard was seconds away from impact, none of them could look at it any more, it was too bright. As the shard drew near, they could hear a rumble like a coming train that resonated in their chests as they laid on the hill. The light disappeared from their view behind the hill and they braced for impact. They felt the moment it crashed to the ground, the shockwave sent a single ripple through the land followed by the sound of a massive explosion and more shock from the earth. Dorren began to stand up and then quickly dropped back down. "Stay down!" he shouted. As soon as he finished a rain of wood that had previously been trees came raining down from overhead, some pieces larger than the logs they had burned the previous night. When the rain slowed, he tried standing up again, "okay the coast is clear."

When they had all stood up and crested the hill, they took in the destruction that the single shard of the moon had wrought. Looking out over the landscape, they easily make out where the piece of the Moon had landed. It landed in a clearing of trees to their north, where Ozpin had said it would be, the edges of which now on fire. "That clearing wasn't there before." Olivia pointed out. As the realization dawned on them, they remembered that there were two shocks, the shard had crashed and _then _exploded, utterly destroying a wide swath of area around it. Looking in their immediate surroundings, they saw what had previously been the trees of that section of forest. Most of the fragments were the size of an arm or leg, but some like the ten foot long section of tree trunk now covering the campsite were not so small. "Enough gawking, we need to move," ordered Dorren, and the team set off at a run for the burning crater.

The flames hissed their complaint as Vi doused them using her water Dust. "Does it feel odd putting out a fire that isn't yours?" asked Erol.

"It's Dust, it has to be good for something." She said. "This IS the only reason I carry it."

"Vi, focus on the largest fires, Erol stay with her. Olivia and I will investigate the piece of the Moon." said Dorren.

As Dorren approached the shard of the Moon, he noticed the faint purple dust that coated the crater it had dug. The Shard itself was a roughly spherical stone about 3 feet in diameter with purple crystals throughout it. All told, the impact made a crater a several feet across and a few feet deep, and scorched grass and blasted trees out to around one hundred feet from the Shard, the epicenter of the new clearing. Near the edges of the ring, some stumps held their place where trees once stood. The denser forests from which they came were behind him, Dorren took note of the sparse forest lining the edge of half of the ring facing him, "If anything large should come to join us, it will come from there." he thought. Vi had put out all but the smallest of fires when the first Grimm showed up.

"Grimm!" called Dorren, as a half-dozen Beowolves emerged from the dense forest behind them. "Olivia, they're yours," and then shouted to Vi and Erol. "Vi, Erol, rally center!"

The sniper ran up to the edge of the crater and readied her crossbow Windlash. "A group of two and four..." she thought as she sighted the lead of the group of two Beowolves. She breathed in. Out. Twang. She drew Windlash's lever back, setting the string and clicking a new bolt into place, Twang. The lead Beowolf dropped, a bright steel bolt disappearing into its shoulder. As the following Beowolf realized what happened it met the very same fate. "One group left." She ran from the edge of the crater to meet the Beowolves head on with Windlash in its straight sword form. Though she lacked Dorren's strength and Erol's defensive capabilities, what they lacked she had in spades: grace and speed.

She met the first carefully, this would decide the flow of the encounter. She awaited its charge stoically, she wanted them to keep their speed. The first attempted a pounce, only to have its clawed hand parried aside by Olivia's blade and killed with a precise thrust behind its mask. The three following Beowolves diverted and surrounded her. She grinned despite herself and fully extended her arm, pointing Windlash at one of the three Beowolves forming a triangle around her. As she stood she did not concern herself with what she saw, but focused on her hearing for warning. All stood still, until the Beowolf to her right leapt forward. Instead of holding her ground, she jumped over the attacking Beowolf in a slow front flip, making a quick swipe at the back of its neck as she sailed over it. With only two Beowolves left, they posed no challenge as she dispatched them.

When Olivia returned to the crater, Vi and Erol had been there for some time. Dorren addressed team DOVE, "We hold the crater. Should the enemy attack en masse, only the smaller sort will be able to strike from the denser forests we came from to the south. That will be yours, Olivia." She straightened and gave a nod and monosyllable in acknowledgement. "Erol, if anything large comes, it will be from the sparse forests on the north side, that half will be ours." Erol didn't respond, Dorren continued, "Vi, stay near the crater. That will give you the space you need so you can watch the whole field." "Gotcha," she replied. "We will station halfway to the edge of the trees from the crater except for Vi. Positions, everyone."

Olivia ran out toward the now-decaying Grimm she had slain shortly before, Vi took a stance at the crater's edge, Dorren started toward the lighter forest, and Erol all but dragged his feet toward his position. Dorren turned back to him "This may be do or die. This thing may some kind of Grimm magnet or the impact itself might have gotten their attention. Either way, we need to be prepared for the worst, now pick it up!" Erol knew he would pay for it later if he didn't get moving, and hustled up to a jog. "Better."

Team DOVE had been in position for just moments when the next Grimm assault came, and they came in force with over a dozen Ursi. Dorren had four charging directly for him, Erol had just as many. He grinned and extended Monolith to its full length, almost five feet, its reach would allow him to strike before the Ursi could with their short arms. He held the massive blade over his head, ready to use its momentum to cleave right through the enemy. The first approached him, but before it could reach him, Monolith was already en route to slice the Ursa right in half. Dorren shortened Monolith into its heavy broadsword length as two charged him at once on all fours. He advanced one of them, pointed Monolith downward and extended it again. Dorren jumped as the point planted in the ground and kept extending, using the push to connect a dropkick to the Ursa's head. He slid to a stop as the other charging Ursa did. "Large target, short range, little movement," he thought "I hardly need to aim." Monolith switched into a broadsword and then into its cannon rifle form and lined up a shot at the Ursa's chest. The deep report of Monolith's cannon sounded as a gaping hole appeared in its torso and it fell to the ground. Dorren switched his weapon back into a sword and made short work of the last Ursa.

Meanwhile, Vi had three Ursi coming for her from the east and west sides. "Olivia already has her own pack to deal with, all of these are mine." she thought. Taking one out at a time would get her nowhere right now, she needed to remove an entire side at once. She reached out with her Aura to the fire dust canisters like she had done a hundred times before and focused on the shape she wanted. She held it for a moment and enjoyed its familiar warmth before flinging it skyward. It streaked upward until it snapped to an arcing path right for a group of three Ursi. The fireball crashed in their midst and exploded violently, incinerating them all and launching the corpses into the air. She turned to the remaining group and closed the distance, readying earth dust on the tips of her Talons. She stopped and plunged her armored, razor-sharp fingers into the dirt and the ground before two of the Ursi responded in kind, sending earthen lances through their abdomens dealing crippling wounds. Vi switched focus to the last one and readied more fire in her palm. She blocked its swipe with an armored hand and leapt for its head. Pressing the fire into its head, a moment later the dust exploded into life, reducing the Ursa's head to a fine mist.

Leaving the crippled two to die, she returned to the crater and scanned the battlefield. Erol and Dorren were holding their own just fine, but Olivia was struggling. She had the finesse to keep them all at bay, but her battle wouldn't get anywhere quickly without intervention. "She must be conserving ammo," Vi thought. "I should at least consider doing the same." She dismissed the idea and readied her fire dust. As she extended her Aura, something felt wrong. She felt her strength being drained. She pushed through and sent a pair of her own fire bolts to Olivia's aid. The fire was strange as well, instead of its warm red color it was now white, and on impact cut _through _the Ursi and continued burning on the ground. Suddenly tired, she shifted and knelt down, holding her head with an armored hand. She looked down. The earth around her feet was clean of the purple dust that coated the crater. Her curiosity demanded she investigate post-haste.

When Dorren turned from the carnage before him, he saw similar results about the battlefield. Erol was recovering his tomahawks, silver spikes were protruding from heads on the opposite side of the clearing, and charred Ursi-shaped heaps laid on his left and right, Vi's work. "They're serious. They really don't want us here, and the escalation could be troublesome." He thought. The dust had cleared on the individual encounters and team DOVE passed around a thumbs up, but Vi was busy investigating the piece of the Moon. Dorren called to her, and as she gave the okay signal a rumbling started all around him from every direction of his and Erol's sector. "Fall back!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. They neared the crater when several adult Deathstalkers crashed through the trees where Dorren and Erol had been earlier. More could be seen behind them through the trees.

"Erol, with me, we're holding them back. Olivia start putting out eyes. Vi, standard Deathstalker takedown as soon as they're upon us." Dorren ordered.

"But there are too many, as soon as you land you'll be in danger." Vi worried.

"It's the best plan I've got." he conceded.

Vi didn't like it, but it was all they could do with so little time. "There has to be another way." She thought. "I don't have enough air and earth dusts to launch all of these into the air like we normally do,and my fire only gets shed by their armor." She strained in thought until her eyes fell upon the crater again. The dust. "My fire shredded the Ursi with little effort and the fine dust around my feet." Having convinced herself, she decided to break open the piece of the Moon. She needed more than the powder. She stood at the edge of the crater and called as much earth dust as she could and concentrated on forming an axe. Vi swung her arm in a chop as an edged blade of rock rose from the ground behind her and arced overhead, slamming into the Shard. The Moonstone yielded under the strike, shattering and scattering its contents, most notable of which a pure purple crystal about as large as a soda can. Perfect.

She retracted the armor and claws on her hand and took up the crystal. She could feel it pulling at her, the crystal calling for her Aura. Soon. The crystal was a pure and translucent purple with little flakes of silver throughout. She got a bad feeling, but pushed it down. This was the only way. She ran to the edge of the crater and saw the battle for the first time. Several Deathstalkers had found their way into the clearing, and more could be seen behind them in the trees waiting their turn. Examining the Deathstalkers already upon them, most were missing at least one eye, thanks to Olivia, and Dorren's cannon had already severed some tails, now lying on the ground. None had been slain, partially her fault. "Where the hell is Vi!?" Yelled Dorren.

"Here, Dorren. I have an idea, fall back."

"Now is not the time!"

"This isn't working, just trust me!" She begged.

Each beset by two Deathstalkers at once, Dorren and Erol had been struggling. Dorren was getting tired, his blade not the proficient defensive tool like Erol's arsenal. He soon took a claw full in the chest that sent him flying back and tumbling. Erol fell back to join him, four Deathstalkers at once was a death sentence even for him. Erol spoke up "We don't know this idea, it could be a game changer. If we stay the course we die."

Dorren couldn't believe he was hearing it from Erol of all people, but he was right. Even with Vi's casting, the battle wouldn't have fared too well against the veritable wall of claws. Dorren relented, "All right, fall back. This idea must be good if she ignored her normal job."

The two neared the crater, Vi shouted "Get behind me!"

"What's going on?" Dorren asked.

"There's no time, just do it!"

He did as she asked and came to a stop several feet behind her and started, "Alright, so what's going- ." He paused when he saw the crystal in her hand.

"I told you to trust me." She said calmly, and turned to face the horde of Grimm before her.

Before Dorren could protest, she tapped into her Aura and collected herself before even reaching for the power of the crystal in her hand. With one effort she extended her Aura, seeking the crystal. It responded, drinking her Aura, it stole what she had offered and then grasped for more, greedily sapping her body of its Aura to the last dreg. She felt it reaching for her life, her essence, her life force. It would soon take her. Vi screamed her pain to the world and steeled herself, shielded her life from the thirst of the crystal as it clawed at the wall around her soul. Her body burned in agony like the countless Grimm she had burned with her flames. She couldn't feel her hand, only the pain that told her it was still there. The crystal shined brightly in her hand, brimming with the power it has sucked from her. She couldn't hold it or its power at bay much longer, she needed to release its wrath lest she be consumed by it. She reached out with the crystal to no avail as it kept vying for her life. "What is wrong?" she thought. "Where is the power?" She felt the destructive energy waiting in her hand, and searched it. She found nothing. She felt the power, but also felt nothing. "A power without substance?"

Revelation dawned on her of when she first felt it. "I used fire dust when the dust at my feet was consumed, that must have drawn my Aura and turned it into raw power for my fire. I need my fire." She called upon the fire in her gauntlet. Agony coursing through her, she drew the dust into her hand and cast it out. White-hot fire poured from her hand before her, bathing the battlefield in a flood of flames. The power that had run amok in her body now loosed itself through her hand, its wrath now turned on her foes. The pain and weakness was getting the better of her, she fell to her knees but kept the Dust flowing. The roar of the flames was deafening, only to be punctuated by the screams and hisses of dying Grimm. Her inferno was fading, her vision turning black. Both she and the crystal now devoid of strength. As she closed her eyes, the pain from the crystal subsided and she collapsed on the ground.

Dorren was the first the recover from the shock and ran to her motionless body, fearing the worst until she coughed up blood and screamed in renewed agony.


	3. Retreat

"Olivia, Erol, cover us!" The leader bellowed. "Ozpin needs to know this," as he pulled out his scroll. If there was a time to call the headmaster, it was now, the battle was in a lull.

"Ozpin," the other end picked up.

"Vi is down, we need that backup NOW!" said Dorren.

"Understood, assistance will arrive shortly," assured Ozpin.

* * *

><p>The headmaster put down the scroll for a moment, "Not as planned, this is a much greater response than we expected. Team DOVE should have been able to handle this. What was there, a pack of Deathstalkers?" Remembering his new task, he dialed Professor Skyye.<p>

"Yes, Ozpin?" she answered.

"Take flight, they need you five minutes ago."

"Understood, anything else?"

"One of Team DOVE is down..."

"One of Team DOVE!? This is bad," She thought. With an affirmative, she clicked off the line. She turned to the bay of the Academy transport they had taken, a small VTOL jet with room to carry two whole teams plus a modest cargo. Henrietta Skyye, a tall second-year professor and leader of the Staff Team HLFR (Hellfire) at Beacon Academy was often known by her nickname "The Demon Skyye." She was an excellent leader; calm, confident, and strong. She was the most armored of all of the staff, almost head to toe in streamlined steel plate armor with a thick back. The only exposed portion was her head, showing her severe face and bobbed haircut. She reached and drew the mass of blue steel behind her back, Interceptor. Skyye addressed the pair in accompaniment, the pilot, and Professor Linus Caldera, "They're in trouble," Caldera raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I'm getting there as soon as possible, backup and extract the team as quickly as possible on arrival. Pilot, as fast as you can take her."

Finished, she opened the hatch on the side of the cargo jet. They were not too far above the treetops, a hundred meters at most. Interceptor in hand, she extended it to its full length of almost seven feet, a true greatspear if there ever was one. She took a breath, and jumped out of the plane in a nosedive straight for the ground. A moment later, the thick back of her armor unfolded into a set of metal wings complete with red streaks of fire dust canisters and a thrust vent running down her back. Levelling with the ground, she burst forth as a human missile into the morning sky.

* * *

><p>Hanging up from Ozpin, he sighed and looked back to the limp form in his arms. She was shivering violently, and only took breaks to cough up more blood and resume shivering. "At least I know she's alive..." he reassured himself, "but for how long?" "Erol, switch with me!" the leader called as the axeman felled a stray Beowolf. Small Grimm were beginning to find their way to the meteorite again.<p>

"And why?" he answered.

"Because you have a shield, use it to defend someone else while you're at it."

"He has a point." Erol muttered to himself.

Dorren laid Vi down on her side in case she had to cough again as Erol approached. The new defender saw her for the first time up close, the worry showed on his face. Before Erol had a chance to break at the sight, Dorren put a strong hand on his shoulder, "there will be time for that when we're all safe." He looked up at Dorren only to see the very same worry written across his broad, tanned face, and grunted his assent.

Soon after the leader joined the fray, Olivia called out, "Nevermores!" and switched to her crossbow.

"Olivia, hold." commanded Dorren as he turned Monolith to its cannon form and brought the first Nevermore into sight. "Damn it all," he said. Monolith's small magazine, while powerful, left little room for error. There were three adult Nevermores in sight and three rounds in his clip remaining, and as their luck was going this was not the end of the Nevermores. Monolith roared as the heavy gunner began his bombardment. The first Nevermore fell with a large hole in its neck, crashing into the forest before them, and the second met a similar fate, it's head destroyed. He had to quickly line up the shot before the last Nevermore was in range to launch its razor feathers upon them. The Nevermore reared back. Hastily lining up the final shot, Dorren swept his sight across the Nevermore and pulled the trigger.

Monolith's huge 20mm round clipped the top of the Nevermore's wing, but it remained airborne. "Olivia, keep it busy!" he shouted. Olivia loosed bolt after bolt at the Nevermore, but not until after it had flapped several spear feathers aimed at the downed Vi and her defender. Erol's shield clanged with each feather shed, recoiling at each impact. He held fast as long as he could stand, until one struck hard on the top of his shield, swaying his guard. The final feather from still incoming, it was en route to completely miss him. Except it would skewer Vi. He steeled himself for impact and threw himself to the side. The defender took the point of the feather on his armored side and was sent tumbling, dropping his shield near his downed comrade.

The final Nevermore was a black pincushion, nearly a dozen silver bolts protruding from its wings by the time the cannoneer had attached his second magazine. He drew Monolith up to bear on the Nevermore and pulled the trigger twice, crimson holes bloomed on the Nevermore and it joined its brethren in death. Team DOVE had lowered their weapons when a deep screech pierced the air as an ancient Nevermore passed over the clearing. It circled back and stationed far overhead screaming once more. The gigantic bird was more than twice the size of the fallen ones, and featured armor plating covering its chest, neck, and the tops of its wings. It sent a gust toward the ground, and with it a feathered flurry covering the entirety of the clearing. Having returned to his post, the defender pointed his shield skyward over himself and his charge. Dorren blocked as best as he could with his blade and Olivia danced between the falling feathers.

* * *

><p>Darting over the treetops, the Sky Demon followed the smoke in the distance to her target. The cool morning air broke against her head and slipped down the smooth steel plating of her armor. Her greatspear was held at the ready below her, its large blade making a second wake of wind. The origin of the smoke came into clearer view and she saw three Nevermores rise to challenge an unseen foe and fall one by one. <em>Fighting valiantly, I see,<em> she thought, and then saw a giant nevermore rise above the trees and come to bear upon the clearing, she was less than a minute away at her current power but redoubled her efforts and poured on the speed. This would be her kill.

Raw speed turned the landscape into streaming colors centered on the massive Nevermore. The bird reared and launched a barrage of feathers at the ground below. _Only a few more seconds,_ as she neared the clearing. She was flying directly towards the attacking Nevermore and prepared to strike. At the last moment the Demon withdrew her wings and levelled her spear to strike. Her spear struck a plate of armor which quickly gave way under the weight and momentum behind Interceptor. The greatspear sank half of its full length into the Grimm, sending it reeling in pain. Holding on, Henrietta set her feet against the Grimm and pulled with all of her might. Interceptor came free from the Nevermore, along with a portion of its chest and Henrietta began a free-fall back to the ground.

* * *

><p>The feather bombardment abruptly stopped and Team DOVE looked to the sky to see the flailing Grimm and falling Professor. Not missing a beat, Dorren took the opportunity to finish his magazine into to Nevermore. Seeing a losing battle, the ancient bird turned to flee. Not far off, however, it succumbed to it injuries and crashed to the forest. Still falling, the Professor made no attempt to slow herself. Instead, she righted herself and landed on her feet, cracking the ground beneath her.<p>

Standing up again, Henrietta was about as tall as Dorren. She addressed the tired team, "The transport will arrive shortly. We should be fine now that I'm here, but Professor Caldera will arrive with the transport as well." She paused. "How is the girl."

"She's alive, that's about the best of it." said Dorren.

Henrietta sighed, "at least there's that much. And everyone else?"

The leader looked around to his team, "Fine, for the most part."

"That's good to- " she began as growls surrounded them from the forest. "They really want to kill you all. Don't bother conserving ammo, the transport is not far behind me." With that, she switched her grip on her spear as it folded into an assault rifle. From all around them came a swarm of Beowolves.

"Erol, on me," called the leader. "Olivia can slaughter Beowolves." The four formed a wide triangle centered on the downed Vi consisting of Olivia, Henrietta, and the pair of Erol and Dorren to hold their ground. Quick bursts chattered from the lancer's rifle and crimson holes bloomed from the Grimm. The familiar twang of Olivia's Windlash intermittently sang, followed by a death cry from each precise shot. Dorren and Erol, however, had a tougher time, each having a weapon favoring single large targets or very close ones. The best the pair could manage was thinning the crowd and meeting the rest head-on. Beowolves kept coming from the trees for them, holding them off was the best the team could manage. Beowolves were slowly gaining ground on the gunners and the warriors were growing tired.

The Beowolves were getting uncomfortably close when new gunfire rang out from above them, Professor Calderon. He was every bit the cowboy that he looked like in his leather vest, his duster, and jeans. The ensemble was completed by his thin, birdlike features and short-trimmed beard. Falling from the sky, one hand held his cowboy hat from blowing away while the other held his gun Cerberus. Cerberus was an odd piece of engineering. A glorified combination of a shotgun and a club, it totalled about four feet long and had a transforming grip favoring either being swung as a club or fired as a gun. The weapon got its name from its odd capacity as a gun. On the end of the club, three barrels were visible. From an internal magazine shotgun shells were drawn into a rotating chamber attached to all three barrels which could be fired singly or all at once in a devastating spray of shot.

As he fell, he unloaded round after round unerringly into the Grimm below while simultaneously slowing his descent. Landing still at an angle, he skidded to a stop and hefted Cerberus to rest on his shoulder. "I hope you saved some for me!" he called over to Henrietta. Having landed away from the group, he was in Grimm territory. Several turned back to face him and more poured from the forest to surround him. Over a dozen Beowolves had formed a circle around him, he sneered and brought the gun down from his shoulder. Pointed directly at a Beowolf before him, he pulled the trigger. The Beowolf was shredded by the shot and Cerberus recoiled very high, almost over his head.

Observing from afar, Olivia was concerned for him until his unusual firing style came into play. The professor then turned and brought the gun down, facing a Beowolf opposite him and firing. Riding the recoil, he unleashed a storm of fire all around him. Fighting like this, he was slaying them almost as quickly as she and Henrietta combined. Thanks to the cowboy, the two of them were able to push back their own horde and assist Dorren and Erol. The arrival of the two professors signaled a turning of the tide against the Grimm, seeing only death awaiting them many turned tail and fled. Those that didn't met the death the others narrowly avoided.

Having passed to avoid Grimm, the transport slowed over the clearing and descended to the ground. Dorren walked over to Vi, still where he had left her. The shivering had not stopped and there was a small puddle of blood from her continued coughing. Gently as he could, he slipped an arm under her shoulder and tucked the other behind her knees and picked her up. A weak, pained groan escaped her mouth, "I'm so sorry, Vi," he answered the limp form in his arms. As he carried her to the jet, he couldn't bear to look at his old friend's face. Gazing at her face would be staring at his failure; as a leader, a warrior, a friend, and a man. Tears welled in his eyes, he thought "Am I so weak that I can't protect my teammates beside me? How will I be able to save those that can't fight for themselves? I can't even save those that CAN fight..."

Inside the jet, a row of seats was left open to lay her down. Disturbing her as little as he could manage, he laid her fully across the bench. He knelt beside her and took her hand in both of his, repeating slowly "I'm so sorry." A small pale hand grabbed his shoulder, Olivia's.

"Sit down, we're taking off," she said coolly. Her eyes betrayed her usual tone, she too was deeply worried for her teammate.

"Right," he managed, and going to place her hand on her chest, he saw it. Dorren turned the hand to see her open palm, the blood drained from his face. He broke down into monosyllables.

"Dorren..." Olivia was growing stern with him.

He shifted aside and displayed the angular bright purple scar covering most of Vi's right hand.


	4. Rest

As Dorren stood to take his seat, Henrietta leaned into the hold to address them. "We're going to hold this position until another jet arrives, she needs medical attention immediately" said Henrietta to the team. "If we can secure this find, it may help us in treating your teammate. Be seeing you," and she signaled the pilot to take off. As the scene was drifting away they could make out the sounds of the continued combat, particularly the chatter of gunfire and shrieks of pain and death.

In the hold of the jet were two opposing benches, on one sat the three and the other laid the one. In the center of the three sat the leader, his head held in his hands. Of the three, he took the thought of losing her the worst. No one dared to speak, not with such a dark cloud looming over them. If Dorren had ever raised his head from his hands one could have seen the vacant expression in his eyes, the hollow gaze of a man confused. Should he move forward or slow down? Keep fighting or give up? On his left, Olivia wore her default cold disguise that betrayed the storm of thought behind it. Erol was different. While his face gave way to grief, his eyes burned with a defiant fire.

* * *

><p><em>This is the damage I have caused,<em> the Headmaster thought has he awaited the jet. Standing on the landing pad were some of the infirmary staff, Professor Goodwitch, and himself. _I at least owe it to see her when she arrives, and her team owes her much more._ There he waited with a mug of coffee in one hand and his cane in the other, perched on one of the highest points of the Academy overlooking Vale and its surrounding. The jet carrying Team DOVE would be coming from the east, almost coming out of the sun itself. When he squinted hard enough, he could just barely see it.

When it neared the landing pad, the thrusters swiveled forward to slow down and begin its descent. Before it had even touched down, the medical staff were already bringing the stretcher near for a quick transfer. One of them pulled out a motionless body. Vi. A feeling of unease crept into his chest. Though she was still alive, for now, he still wasn't used to the sight. Ozpin hoped he never would be. True, she was a huntress in training but she is still basically a child. An injured child was something he would not stand for. Fortunately Professors Skyye and Caldera were still in the forest returning her suffering hundredfold.

The stretcher was passing by, there weren't any cuts on her nor tears in her battle gear, only the blood on her lips and a ghastly purple scar on her right hand. Team Dove walked on either side of her, the leader and largest of them holding her left hand. Ozpin held out his cane before the team, separating the three from their fallen teammate.

"Haven't you done enough!?" bellowed Dorren. The large man quickly advanced the Headmaster as if to challenge him, only to collide with a purple screen. Behind Ozpin stood Glenda, her riding crop drawn and a faint purple glow emanating from its tip.

"I understand that emotions run high at times like this. I've been there before and so I'll forgive the... aggression. Once. Understood?

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Good, I have a task for all of you already: rest," Ozpin began. "Likely, none of you will be able to focus in your classes for a short while, so you may as well get a pass from them through tomorrow. Do whatever you feel is necessary to calm your minds and relax your bodies. Your teammate will be occupied with imaging and diagnostics for most of today, so you may visit her tomorrow. Now go, it is only morning and you have already had a long day."

* * *

><p>Their room felt wholly different, though it hadn't changed at all. They all sat down on their own beds, but one bed without its owner made their team home feel... wrong. Without their magus in attendance their room seemed less bright and the very air felt thick. The first to speak up was Dorren, "I'm gonna try and sleep..." he said and laid down facing the wall by his bed. Erol eventually stood and paced the room restlessly. Olivia simply watched as he crossed back and forth and quickly became frustrated with himself. Finally he left, only saying "I'll be back later."<p>

Olivia sat cross-legged at the head of her bed with her back against the wall. Closing her eyes, she thought through the events of that morning. The Grimm had been more than manageable until the Deathstalkers showed up. Their standard Deathstalker takedown tactic had never failed them before, except this time they didn't even attempt it. When beset by only a few, Vi will launch them into the air where the rest are able to strike the exposed underside. Taking matters into her own hands, Vi borrowed a page from Erol's old book and completely ignored procedure. While her decision was rash and irresponsible, it was likely the only way they all stood a chance of making it home alive. If they had kept to their protocol, as soon as someone moved in for the kill they would be vulnerable to all of the _other _Deathstalkers around it. They were essentially fighting a phalanx of Deathstalkers.

No matter how many times she played through the scenario in her mind, she couldn't imagine a successful outcome that did not involve Vi's sacrifice. At that time, their strategy relied on the boys holding the line while the girls disabled them and set up kills. The high density of Deathstalkers put a high price on taking one out of the equation. She kept repeating the morning in her mind until her concentration was broken by a mumbling across the room, Dorren. While a lot of his sleep talk was unintelligible, she could easily make out "Vi" a few times and his tossing and turning said that his dreams did not bode well. _I doubt he will be able to get this out of his head soon_, she thought. Before drifting off to sleep herself, she thought she heard "Don't do it."

Olivia was woken with a start when Dorren shot upright in bed. Returned from the likely doom-ridden dream world, he rubbed at his face with his hands and then dropped them onto his lap. After zoning out while staring at the covers, "How long have I been asleep?" he asked.

She reached over and took her scroll from the nightstand, "It's 4:13, about 6 hours."

"I didn't think I would be able to sleep that long," he said as he threw off the covers and stood up. After finally looking around the room, "Where's Erol?"

She shrugged, "Said he'd be back later."

"Alright then," as he bent over and collected his scroll and wallet and put them in pockets.

"Going somewhere?" inquired Olivia.

"Gonna get something to eat."

"Cafeteria?" She stood up and stretched her legs, they were tight from her unintended sleep position.

He was started toward the door, "No, going out."

_There it is, _she thought. She walked hurriedly and beat him to the door. _He isn't going only to eat, and he's not going alone._ "I'm coming too." she declared, standing just before him and blocking the door with her relatively small frame.

"You don't have to," said Dorren. He fumbled for something else to dissuade her until he saw the face of a girl that wasn't going to budge. "Suit yourself," he relented.

* * *

><p>Evening found the two in the Trusty Blade pub, a Hunter favorite. The Trusty Blade was a homey place that had the feeling of an old tavern. Much of the inside was wood, from the tables and chairs to the floor and exposed rafters above. The only significant parts of the room that weren't made of wood were the walls, made of stacked and mortared stone. The walls were adorned with effects strongly geared towards their particular crowd, full-fledged Hunters and Beacon's Hunters in training. Hanging on the wall was an array of weapons that would leave only the most unusual Hunter's weapon unrepresented. Over the bar loomed an imitation head of every kind of Grimm wandering the forest outside of Vale.<p>

Still early in the evening on a Thursday, there were only a few other patrons in the sprawling affair that was the main dining area. While there would be only a few people to possibly hear the conversation, the flipside of the coin was the lack of overlapping conversations to drown out theirs to outsiders. Seated at a high table, they each had a bar burger and fries. With their meals, Dorren had a tall glass of ale, a contrast to Olivia's short glass of bourbon over ice. The waitress had been instructed to "keep them coming."

"I remember when we first came here," she initiated, to his surprise. Dorren tried to think back to their first year, to the team's inception. "When you all but dragged me here to talk?" helped Olivia.

"That's right, when I assigned you your first mission on Team DOVE." he recalled. "Which is going very well, might I add. We haven't discussed it much since then."

"He has gotten much better. Back then he would hardly listen to you, now he's at least grudgingly doing what he's told. Maybe this morning's events will help drive the point home." The mere mention of that morning visibly darkened the leaders mood, despite the alcohol. He took a long sip and stared into his drink. "There was nothing to be done. We both know that." Dorren furrowed his brow, thinking hard. Olivia let him think for a short while and continued, "I thought through this morning many times over while you were asleep, I have serious doubts we would be here having this conversation if Vi hadn't thought to... you know."

"I've been starting the same thing myself." said Dorren.

"Good, you've at least started down the path of not blaming yourself," she comforted.

"There's still plenty of room for that."

"Don't give me that. There wasn't a conceivable plan that would have killed the Deathstalkers and kept us alive. Our normal strategy works well for our team and standard encounters, this morning was an exception to the rule, and its not fair to yourself to judge by the exception."

"But the problem with _not_ judging by the exception is this; the exception is what gets a whole team killed. Throwing out the strategy and enemy as problems, what does that leave?" Olivia had an idea what he was getting at, but didn't want to be right. "Us." She was right. "For either our team composition or simply our team strength, this morning was an impossible battle." With this, he finished off what was his fourth tall glass of ale, and the first three were beginning to show. Shortly after, the waitress appeared with another full glass in hand and removed the empty one. Olivia looked from him to the glass repeatedly and let him come up with her question. "Yes, I am going to finish it. I've already paid for it." He wasn't going to be drunk by the time they left, but he certainly wasn't going to be all there.

She raised her hands in concession, she couldn't stop him if she wanted to. _Good thing I tagged along, _she thought.

"So basically the answer is get stronger?" she asked.

"It's not THE answer, but that doesn't mean is doesn't belong on the table."

"So we pretend it is. How do you propose we do that?"

"For starters we could up our time spent training and sparring..." he suggested.

"Which only really works for you and Erol." Dorren raised an eyebrow. "Well, my best targets are Beowolves and Ursi, I can take them down faster than even Vi unless she really goes all out. But against larger and more armored Grimm the best I can manage is slowing them down, I can't really kill them on my own"

Dorren couldn't argue. While she excelled at handling numerous small targets, her effectiveness against large foes was lacking, stemming from both her weapon arrangement and her lack of physical strength. Her precision and speed more than made up for this when set against Beowolves and the like, but the size and armor of larger Grimm more readily yield to the strength of a Hunter and his weapon. No matter how impeccably she could place her bolts, she was still limited on the damage she could inflict and sparring wasn't going to do much to help. Whether it was some solution or a reassurance, he struggled to find something to say until Olivia held up a hand and said "I'll come up with something."

"Training and sparring won't do much for Vi either." she muttered.

He was about to respond when the waitress suddenly appeared, "Would you like another?"

Caught off guard, Dorren fumbled his words until Olivia spoke up, "No, I think he's done," and the waitress seemed relieved.

* * *

><p>Though still capable of walking in a straight line, Dorren was definitely moving at a slower pace than normal as they walked in the general direction of Beacon. Under the passing streetlights, his face was less rigid than when they had entered the bar, the alcohol simply helping him <em>not think <em>about what happened this morning. They didn't know the time nor did they care for it, as it was well into the evening and the round full moon was almost overhead.

Through Beacon's main gate, Dorren slowed to a stop. Hands in his pockets, he gazed across the expanse of the academy, their home, looking lost in thought. Olivia turned around and addressed him with a questioning "Hm?"

"It's..." he started, and then paused to collect his words. "I don't know what I'm going to do without her."

"I get that, if she was both my partner and childhood friend I would be a mess too." She consoled. As an afterthought added, "You say it like she's already gone."

"You're right, she isn't. But still..." he choked out before stopping to regain himself.

_Is he actually about to say it?, _thought Olivia. Their leader was adept at maintaining an image of platonic friendship toward their downed teammate. He made great efforts to encourage the team to bond, but he and Vi came into the team with that level of connection so the other two were able to watch as 'outsiders.' He didn't necessarily favor her out of fairness toward his team, but Olivia could think of at least a few times where he felt more than he let on. She and Erol didn't know all of the details, like if she had turned him down before, but they could guess that a relationship was not completely off of the table.

"But I..." he tried again.

She waited to see if he would continue, but saw that he wasn't going to get anywhere soon and gave him an out. "Come on, let's just keep walking," she offered. He willingly agreed.

When they got back to their room, Dorren simply flopped down onto his bed. Tired and intoxicated, it wasn't long before Olivia heard his telltale low, soft snore. Not nearly as subdued by the alcohol, Olivia decided to wait for Erol to get back before going to sleep. She had been paging through her scroll for about an hour before the door opened.

When he turned back around after gently closing the door, Erol met the eyes of a still awake Olivia. He knew what she would ask, and responded "working out, practice, stuff..."

A little of her surprise showed, "All day?"

"Most of it."

"Don't you get hurt, too." she warned.

He considered her words for a moment, and said "One of us has to do _something_."

"We will, just not right now. Think about him for a moment."

Erol reassured her, "Oh, I did. He gets some slack. _Some_."


	5. Dreams and Realities

Weightless.

Vi awoke, floating in an endless black void. Looking over herself, she saw that she was adorned in her battle gear, the clothing that was the most _her_. Everything was there, her dark gray pants, the red vest over her white dress shirt, and her narrow chestplate. On her hands already were her familiar Nova Talons, her precious little slashing fingers. Sliding the fingers back and forth even made them rasp like she remembered. Bringing them close, she examined the tips. "Yep, still sharp." she joked to her self. The sudden sound of her voice would have made her jump, if she could. When the sound died out, she could hear the sound of nothing. All around her was nothing; nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel. Vi couldn't even make out which way was up.

_Where am I?_ she thought. _I feel like I did something amazing, that I was happy. I remember fire, lots of fire, and then black. Am I dead? I can't be dead... no, I can't._ Her mind wandered until it fell on her team. _Erol. Olivia. Dorren._ _My best friends, are they dead, too?_ Images of their twisted and broken bodies forced their way into her mind, a nightmare she'd had more than once before. She couldn't hold back the tears, and little droplets freed themselves from her eyes to drift slowly away into the nothingness before her.

The void shifted. There was still nothing, but it felt like a different nothing, as if she was gaining perspective on this space. Her feet alighted on an invisible step and she stood on nothing, overlooking nothing. Empty void above her and below her, she took a step. Her foot found the same hard emptiness that she had landed on. Beneath her step, a white circle burst from under her foot and rapidly expanded to be a white floor that seemed to stretch infinitely.

Before her, she saw a pair of red eyes open from within the darkness. Vi looked around her new space, surrounding her were several other glowing pairs of eyes staring back at her. Clawed paws stepped out of a black haze, followed by the head, torso and legs of a Beowolf. The other pairs of eyes had all done the same, and Vi found herself surrounded by a pack of Beowolves. She took the initiative and charged at the one directly in front of her. En route, she called for her fire, only to find nothing. She peeked down at her wrists, all of the dust canisters housed in her Nova Talons were utterly dry. _This isn't good at all..._ she thought.

Committed to the charge, she pressed on toward the Beowolf. The Grimm tried to crouch back defensively and take a swipe at her, but she ducked aside and made a swipe of her own. Vi's clawed gauntlet connected with the base of the Beowolve's leg, leaving the nearly severed limb dangling uselessly. She turned to face the rest of the Grimm, now all charging at her. The first, she parried its paw away with an armored hand and slashed back at its face. She hadn't recovered her stance when the second charging Beowolf came, and it raked its claws across her shoulder and sending her tumbling. She moved to get up, but her left arm was hardly responding. She turned her head to see the deeper red soaking through her vest and shirt, and she now felt the pain her body hadn't noticed.

The Grimm had already caught up with her before she could get up. One drew near and leapt into the air, claws and teeth bared. All she could do was raise a hand to try and intercept the worst of it. The Beowolf landed on her, one set of claws stopped on her breastplate and the other digging into her stomach. Continuing the motion, its head aimed for her neck only to be stopped by her gauntlet. It thrashed from side to side, trying to slip past the barrier. The Beowolf suddenly ducked its head and was free of her hand. As she felt its fangs clamping onto her throat, all of the Grimm dissolved into dust and she fell through the floor. As she passed through the plane of the floor, her injuries disappeared.

Once again, she was floating in the empty void. All dimension was gone again, there was no sense of direction or distance. _Failure?_ she thought. _I... I can't do it. Not without dust. What hope do I have without my dust?_ The tears came again, she might as well be unarmed if there were that many Grimm and she didn't have any dust.

The space shifted again, and she felt her weight come to rest on the same immaterial platform. "No, not again..." she said to herself. Several seconds passed, but the floor did not form beneath her. Soon she felt the same sensation of falling as she passed through the invisible ground beneath her.

* * *

><p>"She's not doing well," said the doctor. "When she arrived, her Aura was basically gone, almost nonexistent. She has extensive internal lacerations and bleeding. Her body is trying to heal itself, but its only able to slow her degrading condition. She's just NOT regenerating her Aura, and it's all we can do to treat her injuries. We haven't seen anything like this before. I'm... sorry we can't say much more with confidence."<p>

"Well, what can you say without confidence?" inquired Dorren.

"We... think that the state of her Aura is caused by the crystal that she consumed." the doctor offered.

"But she didn't-" Dorren began.

The doctor held up a hand. "I know, it's the medical term. Ozpin has filled us in on some of his and the staff's conjecture for the sake of her treatment. We are under the assumption that the crystal drains the user's Aura for some purpose. When she consumed the crystal, it was integrated into her body beginning at her hand and then spreading while draining her Aura. When she used the fire dust and the unknown dust, it burned throughout her body. She only had so much Aura, so the crystal drained all that it could. She must have held it back from taking her life. We believe some of the crystal did not absorb any of her Aura, and thus remained in her body and is now stealing the very Aura that trying to repair her body. She has to either sate the dust outright or deny it her Aura until her body has better recovered, but one of those requires conscious effort."

"So all we can do is sit around and wait?" Dorren asked.

"Correct, that and be prepared for any emergent problems." answered the doctor.

Olivia and Erol could both see their leader's mounting tension. Even if there was something they could do, he hated being told to sit on the sideline while his friend fights for her life. Olivia reached out to him, "We're going, staying won't help anyone." Dorren sat for a while longer, but eventually agreed.

Leaving the infirmary, they walked the halls back to their room. The worried team had visited Vi as early as they could. Ahead of them, Ozpin rounded the corner. "Good morning, students," the Headmaster greeted.

"Good morning, Professor Ozpin." the three responded.

"I was on my way to visit your teammate myself and check on her personally," Ozpin explained. "I trust you were brought up to speed on her condition?"

"Unless something has changed in the last minute." said Erol.

"Not in the last minute, but our observations suggest that her Aura could take weeks to fully recover, the staff should be duly prepared." the Headmaster reported.

"Weeks? What will we do..." Dorren wondered aloud.

"That has already been taken care of, someone is waiting for you at your room..." Ozpin checked his watch, "about now. I presumed you would be heading back."

"We... already have a stand-in?" the leader asked pointedly.

"Yes, you do," Ozpin stated. "And yes, it does sound heartless, but I hope you will see things our way. I've been where you are now, and the worst things to have at times like these are idle hands. It is a cruel kindness, but you _will _be expected to conduct your patrol next week. Oh, and before your patrol, you will need to bring your new friend up to speed on how you all will work together. I'll be off." With a gesture of his cane, he walked past and left the three standing in the hallway.

"It's all happening so quickly." Olivia spoke up.

"Yeah, I wonder what the replacement is like. It'll be hard to replace Vi." said Dorren

"Let's not keep 'em waiting." suggested Erol.

* * *

><p>The three turned down their dorm hall and saw a short, fair, sandy haired girl waiting outside their door. Other than her uniform, she wore a royal blue cape with a striking yellow pattern drawn over her shoulders, and her hair was held in a lopsided ponytail. She saw them coming out of the corner of her eye and put away her scroll. The girl brushed her cape to rest fully behind her and brought a straight hand up in mock salute, "Celia Fuller, leader of first-year team CTIL ("Steel"), reporting for duty!" her high voice rang out. The three perked up when they heard her, her voice carried an energy they had been lacking for the last day.<p>

Dorren introduced himself first, "Dorren Alistar, leader of second-year team DOVE and heavy weapons, pleased to meet ya."

Olivia spoke up next, "Olivia Fletcher, sharpshooter," she said simply.

There was a short pause, and then Erol realized he came next, "Erol Markov, I don't know, close quarters?"

"So it's V..." Celia said sadly.

"Yeah, she saved all of us, but it cost her a lot, Ozpin thinks she may be out for weeks," Dorren hurriedly explained, his voice tense.

The little one made a short gasp, she had never heard of someone being down for that long. "What... what is she like?"

"Vi Solaris, she's... a different one." the leader said thoughtfully. "She is always cheerful, kind, energetic, and she's a little eccentric, but she keeps us on our toes. If you want more than that, you'll have to stick around and talk to her yourself."

"You never said what you _do_," Erol said.

"Oh, right, I use dust, but I'm a lot better at supporting than actual offense." said the new one sheepishly.

"We'll have to change some of our strategies..." the leader sulked. When he saw their new teammate sadden, he added, "but that also opens up doors for new ones. This will be good experience for all of us."

"That's right!" Celia spoke up. "Professor Ozpin said that this would be a great learning experience for me! He said that as a leader it would be helpful for me to know what not being the leader is like, and so would working with a different team."

"Speaking of," mused Doren, "what about your team?"

"Well, Ozpin had recommended I hang out with you guys mostly for a few days and later just split my time evenly." As she spoke, her words came faster with her mounting excitement. "The rest of Team CTIL is on standing orders to work hard, because I'm gonna learn a lot from you guys! Oh, I'm just so excited to work with Team DOVE!"

"Hold on there, I didn't expect _actual _excitement" jested Erol.

"What's not to be excited about!? Team DOVE has one of the most diverse set of weapons and strengths in its class!" Celia spat out. "Dorren is arguably the strongest in the class, while Erol is the only one who can hope to withstand the full weight of his blows. Olivia's marksmanship is unmatched, and Vi's casting is just spectacular!"

All three made a point of looking around the hallway, each trying to mask their pride. While each had their exceptional characteristic they hadn't stopped to consider that some may admire them. Though not the strongest second-year team, its members were known by what they did best.

"I mean it's going to be really cool seeing how Team DOVE functions together," the new one finished.

"Not so fast, there. We're going to need a new name." said Erol.

"Hah, that's right, she is a part of the team now." said Dorren.

The four thought hard, until Olivia spoke up. "We have D-E-C-O, if we add an extra D and E we have Decode." All around their circle came nods of approval.

"All in favor of Temporary-Team Decode?" said Dorren as he raised a fist in front of him.

The other three responded with an enthusiastic "Aye!" and raised fists, Celia and her short stature had to reach high to match their height.

"Second order of business, what's next?" said the leader, now turned to Celia, offering her the first decision as a guest. In her "Ummmmm…" that followed her stomach growled loudly. The elder three exchanged looks as smiled cracked on their faces and they burst into laughter. Celia felt embarrassed, she had been so nervous this morning when Ozpin called her to meet him and later her second team that she lost her appetite, and now it was catching up with her.

"So lunch, then?" asked Dorren, still recovering.

"That would be… very much appreciated." replied Celia eagerly. Looking upon her new team again, they seemed a bit brighter. _I guess my second assignment is going well so far, _she thought. As they walked to the cafeteria she recalled her meeting with the Headmaster just earlier that morning.

_She had timidly opened the door into his office and greeted him with a shaky "Good morning, Headmaster." Ozpin sipped at his coffee and assured her that there was no cause for concern and asked her to take a seat. The Headmaster's office was interesting to say the least, it was very... _him_, gears turning under the floor, above the ceiling, and within the very walls. Even his desk and chair featured the same glass and gears motif that comprised the room. _

_He began in his usual cryptic manner that all of the students had quickly become accustomed to. "I cannot divulge all of the details, some you will eventually come to know but others are best kept to as few people as possible. A second-year team, Team DOVE, if you're familiar with them, is in dire straights as of yesterday. I... They need your help now. As we speak, they are on track to lose one of the most important battles of their lives."_

"_What can I do? If it's a battle, I'm only a first-year student!" she exclaimed._

"_The one I am referring to is a different kind of battle. While your participation in their weekly patrols is expected, the battle I'm more concerned about is one of morale. I've watched them since they returned yesterday, and it's not good. Since the near-death of one of their own, the team has taken a turn for the worse. The leader who is normally rather calm has become… volatile. The quiet one, Olivia, has only become more so and the last one may well train himself to death. They desperately need someone to enter the team and reset the team's demeanor. You fit the bill as a very capable dust user and possess the cheer and brightness in spades that they gravely lack. Your special assignment is twofold: accompany the team on their missions and patrols for the duration of Vi's recovery and to make those three as happy as you possibly can." _

"_I'll… do the best I can." she replied._

"_That's all I can ask for."_

* * *

><p>The Headmaster was seated at his desk in the Beacon clock tower, the turning gears mirrored those spinning in his mind. He sat hunched over the desk, his clasped hands formed the support on which rested his head. He stared blankly ahead, his face pensive. As Ozpin awaited the call, he pondered what information, if at all, he should divulge to the group. <em>I should surely not pass any information about Vi and her condition, <em>he thought. _What we discovered by necessity the others will have to determine experimentally, which will take much longer. Atlas has and will always be a concern._

He did not bat an eye when the hologram screen sprang up from his desk with a true to size video feed of the secretary only inches from his face. "Good morning, Professor Ozpin. You have a secure conference call request, would you like to be connected?"

"Thank you, please connect me immediately." he politely directed.

"Yes, sir," she replied, and her voice was soon replaced by a dial tone. The Headmaster sighed heavily, no more time to rehearse. Three black silhouettes appeared on the screen, each for an emissary of the other three kingdoms.

"Greetings, everyone." said Ozpin.

"Ah, Professor Ozpin, so glad you could join us," came the gruff voice of Commander Cobalt. Ozpin could pick his low, rough timbre anywhere. Easily the strongest man Ozpin could think of, his Atlesian commander's uniform was the tightest of them all, even more so than Headmaster Ironwood of Phalanx Academy.

_So, we have the Atlesian commander. Who else?_

"Thank you, Cobalt," said Azalea in her cool, rich voice. Azalea, the beautiful Headmistress of Mistral's Academy, had made a name for herself with her unusual, albeit effective weapon and impeccable aim. Ozpin had spoken with her on multiple occasions, while not necessarily friends, he knew he could depend on her later.

"That makes four," said Headmaster Rorek, his voice as dry and dusty as his signature cloak and hat. Rorek, the eccentric Headmaster of Vacuo's Tempest Academy, was as haphazard and wild as the kingdom he calls home. He was always accused of being unkempt; his frayed brown cloak seemed to have a perpetual layer of dust and his matching pointed hat cast a wide round shadow almost completely over his shoulders. Not much was known about his fighting style except that his Dust use was as odd as he was.

_Interesting, _thought Ozpin. _I must have gotten thrown into this mess because I responded to the incident in the first place. Everyone here was likely the first to actually do something about yesterday's event._

"I guess I shall get us started, then," began the Commander. "Yesterday's… event… we know that several pieces of our moon fell down upon Remnant. We know not the significance of these events yet, but desire to preemptively build cooperation for the sake of academia. I don't expect there is anyone in opposition?" He let his words hang, and took their silence as an affirmative. "Good. Now, has anyone made any progress regarding these stones?"

_This isn't good, Atlas is pressing for information. _"Not much so far. We have a few pieces that landed within our borders." said Ozpin. "One has been retrieved, but it required great effort. The impact gained the attention of Grimm for miles, we were hard pressed just to secure the area."

"Good to know..." Cobalt trailed off.

"We weren't aware this would be a big deal," offered Rorek. "I guess we shall go get our rock and see what we can find."

_I do remember Vacuo only receiving one within their borders, unfortunate. _Ozpin recalled.

"We already have our sites mapped. As soon as this conversation is over we will move forward with recovery," stated Azalea.

"With that, I think we should give this some time." said Cobalt. "I think we all know who is involved, despite this pitiful guise of anonymity. Unless someone comes up with something interesting, we should meet again to discuss in... Two weeks would be suitable I think."

The impromptu committee agreed and adjourned. The three black figured departed Ozpin's screen. The Headmaster tapped a button, and the screen retracted back into his desk. He leaned back in his chair and gazed into the machinery of his office.

_If our models are correct, Atlas has as many stones as the rest of us combined, _thought Ozpin. _It would be safe to assume they have at least accomplished as much as I told them that we did. As for Atlas, I need to start making connections._

The Headmaster sighed and called his screen back. He began typing.

_Greetings Headmasters Rorek and Azalea._

_These are… most unusual times. We find ourselves standing at a precipice of something much greater than ourselves. As I write this, the Atlesian machine inches closer to discovering what we at Beacon have discovered by necessity. In our current "cooperation" of the kingdoms, I fear the benefit will be rather one-sided unless we form a faction for complete sharing of information. Doing so would simultaneously swing the balance of power to near-equality and calm our fears of Atlas' concentrated power. I hope in earnest to hear from each of you soon._

_Best Regards,_

_Ozpin_

_Headmaster at Beacon Academy_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

Hiya guys, Digi here! I haven't heard much from the readers and would really appreciate some feedback, even just a couple of sentences for parts you liked or could use work. I've been away for a while, a lot of my down time a result of being sick. I'm glad to be back in action, hope you enjoyed my latest chapter! See you soon!


	6. Preparations

"Do we need to practice Bolting again?", questioned Celia. Team DECO had spent a lot of time over the weekend in Beacon's sparring arena bringing their new member up to speed. Their first patrol together was the next day and they had to be ready.

"Sure, the more practice we get, the better we'll be able to take advantage of it when we need it," encouraged Dorren.

"Oh, no. I'm not doing it, not again..." worried Erol.

"Just because you get airsick doesn't mean you get a pass from practice," scolded the leader.

"Suck it up," said Olivia coldly.

"If he doesn't want to, he-" Celia offered.

Dorren held up a hand, "No, if you're going to be a member of this team he needs to become accustomed to your semblance the best that he can." Dorren turned his head to face Errol and said pointedly, "It could save his life."

The complainer couldn't hold his gaze for long, he turned away and conceded with a grunt.

The little mage sighed and raised a beckoning hand, "Alright, then come over here and give me your hand."

Erol shivered, "We have to do that again?"

"Yes, your distaste for my Bolting also leads your Aura to reject mine, so I need to reattune to your Aura." Celia explained, "I've dealt with this before."

"Oh, and how was that?" Erol inquired.

"Practice," Celia said matter-of-factly. "Hand," She directed, and Erol held out a tense hand. She took his bare hand in hers and closed her eyes to focus. "You're going to have to relax. I could force a connection, but those are much less stable."

The young man took a deep breath and tried to release the tension evident in his shoulders. Despite his effort, the concern remained on his face. She waited patiently and at last said "Close enough, I guess."

A yellow glow emanated from Celia, goosebumps immediately rose on Erol's bare forearm and the orange glow of his own Aura emerged in response. His unease rapidly gave way to clear discomfort. He thought he felt a thousand hands grasping at every part of his body, his mind, his Aura. Poking, prodding, grabbing, testing, every last piece of his Aura he felt had been dissected and sewn back together, documenting their contents.

At last, Celia released his hand. Becoming aware of his body again, he was covered in a cold sweat. "Well, that one was... better," Celia confirmed.

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" he replied, exasperated.

"It's a bit better of a link, but it will last a few days at most." she said.

"That's it!? But that was the third time..."

"True, the good part was that you didn't actively resist it this time. However, your Aura still fought back." she explained.

"Alright, alright, let's just do this," he said.

"It will be the same as before, when I use my Bolt you will feel a tug on your Aura. Brace yourself and imagine that the pull on your Aura is a rope and grab hold." she instructed.

Erol let out a deep sigh and pulled out his axe and shield. He crouched low, his shield held between himself and an imaginary foe and his axe held low behind him. Facing the expanse of the arena, he could see Celia out of the corner of his eye. Now in his typical combat pose, she gave a quick nod and her Aura began to radiate from her body. He thought he saw her yellow eyes brighten when he felt the tug on his Aura directly forward. "She's starting easy," he thought.

He leaned forward, and reached out with his mind and thought of pulling a rope like she had said. Immediately, his whole body responded, launching into a low arc forward. The expanse of the arena rushed past him in seconds and found himself about to land on the opposite side of the arena. He landed on his feet, but all too quickly another pull was already in place, this time behind him and to his left. "The hard part," he thought.

He turned and leaned back, as if he were losing his balance, and accepted the tug again. This time the backwards motion brought the arena back into his field of vision. At the low peak of the arc he already felt nauseous. When his feet met the ground, he wasn't ready to stop his momentum. Instead of stopping, he tried to recover his stance by flipping back. Not the most graceful Hunter in training, he was partially successful; landing again skidding on his feet and scraping his shield on the ground.

"Last one," he heard a little voice say, and a final tug pulled on his Aura forward and to the right. Not fully recovered yet, he turned and made to dash toward the pull. This time, his launch more resembled a pounce. His unusual form when he Bolted made his body a spear flying to the other end of the arena. He wasn't going to land on his feet. The axeman steeled himself and brought his shield up before him. The shield hit the ground hard, and he tried to use the rebound to vault back onto his feet. He flipped over, and came to another skidding stop and rose into his fighting stance.

The exercise over, he relaxed and returned his axe to his belt. "Do you want me to bring you back?" Celia called to him.

"Thanks, but I'll walk," he shouted back. The wide area took a while to cross, and his wobbling didn't help.

Rejoining the other three, he asked, "Better that time?"

"Yes, a little chaotic, but it will work," Dorren confirmed

"Good, I don't wanna have to go through that again unless I absolutely have to," said Erol.

"And hopefully you won't, but we should prepare for the worst," said Dorren. "I'll let you get a breather after that, then we should get to some sparring."

"Sounds good, I'm gonna go get some water and sit down until the room stops shifting." he said groggily and slowly made his way to the locker room.

Ladies, how about you-," he began, but cut himself off when he saw a winded Celia. "Or not. How many times can you use your Bolting anyway?"

"On my teammates I can use it several times before I'm this tired. A less willing target? Three times or so." she answered. "Throwing you two around isn't much harder than my own teammates, but he is another story.

"Good to know, how about you two... ummm..." said Dorren.

"We'll figure something out." offered Olivia. "For now, Celia should rest. She won't be able to do much after using so much energy."

"You're right, the two of you are free to do what you like," he said. "Practice-wise, of course," he added.

"We know," said Olivia. She turned and began walking toward the seating around the arena. It took a few seconds for Celia to register that her training partner had just walked off, with a sound of surprise she hurried to join Olivia. Together, the two took a seat in the raised stands overlooking the arena, and waited for the next battle to begin.

A few minutes of silence had passed before Erol returned from the locker room, now much steadier on his feet. The two men had a short exchange and then positioned on opposite sides of the arena. They charged, and the large room was filled with the sound of crashing steel.

As the ladies watched, the two men were fairly evenly matched, but Olivia knew her leader was holding back just a bit to account for his opponent's recent flight. During the fight, Celia looked to the girl next to her. She sat hunched over in her seat, resting her chin on an open hand. Her normally stoic expression was pensive, a frown tugging at her thin lips.

"Is something the matter?" Celia inquired.

"You have an amazing semblance," Olivia said. "Like chess with people."

Surprised, Celia answered, "Yeah... it's come to CTIL's rescue a few times already." Celia replied. "It's a semblance that is more helpful when used on others."

"Wish I could say the same."

_She sounds almost... disappointed_, Celia thought. She asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"The best way that I can help my team is by backing them up and catching anything that wanders into their blind spots." She told Celia. "My dirty, selfish semblance does almost nothing to that effect at all."

"What IS your semblance?" the little one asked. "I've never seen you use it."

"It's just a trick. Hold out your hand." Olivia instructed while drawing her sword.

"I don't think I..." Celia trailed off.

"Won't hurt, trust me."

Celia held out an unsteady hand, unsure of what to expect. "Hold still and watch," said Olivia and raised her sword. Before the younger one could retract her hand, Olivia swept its now translucent blade cleanly through the outstretched hand.

"Ghost," said Olivia shortly. "I can make something immaterial and phase through something else; trees, rocks, shields, people, you name it. Works on my bolts too. Like I said, just a trick."

Celia brought her hand back and tested all of her fingers, they still worked. "Yours is certainly different, can it do anything else?"

"I... don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know!" Celia exclaimed. "That's like not knowing part of yourself! Why don't you know!?"

Olivia, taken aback by the girl's sudden outburst, "Well, ummm..." Her face began to turn red. "When I discovered my semblance back at Signal, I got ahead of myself. I tried to immaterialize myself..."

"And?" Celia said expectantly.

"I phased ONLY my self." she replied. Olivia saw the gears turning in her head and waited for the revelation.

When the implications dawned on her, Celia reeled back, "Oh, oh my. Co-ed training hall?"

The sharpshooter blushed further, and made a sheepish nod. "I'm fine now, I've just been cautious when experimenting with my semblance. And alone."

"For good reason," joked Celia. "That's something we could work on."

Olivia's face sobered, remembering that they should be training for their patrol the next day. The frown also returned, replacing her embarrassed grin.

"There's something else," Celia observed.

"Perceptive, are we?" concluded Olivia.

"I'm a team leader, I should at least be a LITTLE bit so."

"I guess OUR leader's mostly pertains to the battlefield," suggested Olivia.

"And we're girls, that helps, too." said Celia. "So, what is it?"

"I don't really know how to get better," said Olivia. "For the guys down there, it's simple, they just need to get stronger. I don't need to get stronger, it wouldn't help me at all and it's really difficult for me. I'm already one of the best marksmen in this school, maybe even better than some of the professors. Lastly, my semblance is only marginally useful. I don't know what to do."

The little mage thought for a while, then quickly stood up. "I know just the thing, you're coming with me!" she proclaimed, while clamping both hands onto Olivia's arm and heaving with all of her might. Olivia, rather than be hauled off, conceded and followed Celia.

* * *

><p>"We need to get away from those loud boys," Celia had told her. After a quick detour to Team CTIL's dorm room, Olivia hadn't expected their destination to be Beacon Academy's gardens. The midday sun shined brightly overhead, reflecting the vibrant colors of the sprawling garden space. The soothing scent of the myriad flowers filled the air, allowing no escape from their aroma. Small, neat lawns and flowered arbors were scattered haphazardly about the space, where students could relax or study in the beautiful scenery.<p>

The two found one of these such lawns and took a seat on the grass. Between them, Celia placed a dark wooden box she had retrieved from her room and opened it. The inside was thickly cushioned with eight round compartments in all. Six of the round spaces were occupied by thick glass vials, each containing a different colored powder. Dust.

"So you've probably figured out why I brought you here," Celia ventured.

"You think that I should practice using Dust, and we're here so that I will better be able to focus," Olivia answered.

"Correct. Have you used Dust before?" asked Celia.

"Only back at Signal, it's been a long time." said Olivia.

"We're just going to say that's a 'no.' Your turn to hold out your hand." said Celia.

Holding out her hand, Olivia asked, "What's this for?"

The mage had already pulled out four vials of Dust, one for each of the primary elements. "We need to test your affinities, the types of Dust that you will learn the fastest. I have a prediction, we'll see if I'm right." One by one, she uncorked each of the four vials, placed a pinch in Olivia's hand, and resealed the bottles. "This method is perfect for first-time users." Olivia made a face, to which she replied, "You haven't used dust in years, you're essentially a new user."

"It may sting a little," Celia informed. "I need you to focus, and concentrate your Aura into your hand." As soon as she finished her sentence, the little mound of Dust in Olivia's hand scattered in a blue and red cloud, leaving behind several pebbles. _So quickly, she must have a fairly strong Aura, and it makes sense that she would have such precise control, _Celia thought.

"About what I expected," said Celia. "Earth made those little pebbles and Wind blew the rest away."

"You had predicted what they would be?"

"Yes. A person's elemental affinities, to an extent, reflect who they are," Celia explained. "Earth is stubborn or stoic, take your pick, and Air is fleeting and free and does what it pleases." Celia began giggling, as if she were a mad scientist and Olivia her experiment. "This is perfect, it's just what we need."

Olivia gave her a flat look, demanding to be let in on the joke. "Hold on, hold on." Celia said as she pulled out a notebook and pencil and began scribbling furiously. When Olivia leaned over to look, the artist quickly pulled her masterpiece away. Olivia grumbled something about snooty artists and returned to her seat in the grass. She had begun to pluck and examine individual blades of grass when Celia announced her completion.

The sketch piece was a variant of her own sword and crossbow, Windlash, but with some key design changes. The mechanical details she would have to add in herself alongside Celia's own work. Immediately apparent, in place of the two limbs of her own weapon were four similar limbs in the shape of a wide 'X.' The body around the crossbow's draw lever was widened, and a separate drawing detailed the addition. Contained in the expanded lever housing was a dust canister and an odd pulley system.

"That," Celia pointed to the new lever system, "is what makes this all possible. That arrangement is a Dust-powered draw assist so you can launch heavier bolts, or the same ones much faster. This works out well, as the required Force Dust is a combination of Earth and Air, which you have an affinity for. All of this to draw twice as much force from the two extra limbs that also make a second sword."

"Wow, this is… you've made something awesome here," said Olivia.

"Really, you made it. Modifying it was easy." said Celia. "Now, on to your semblance. I doubt that making your sword go through stuff is all it can do. You're going to need to focus again, really hard this time. This is something that needs to be done on your own; it's your semblance after all. If you can't figure it out, just rest on it. It could take all day, or all week." She collected her vials back into her box and gathered her backpack. "I'll let the boys know you're here and not to bother you."

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow at departure," said Olivia. Her new teammate left down the winding garden path toward the tall, white buildings of Beacon.

Celia gone, she flopped back onto the grass. Olivia remembered how the teachers at Signal walked them through discovering their semblances, or rather the process of discovery. Alone in the garden she laid back on the ground, looking at the sky. She spread her arms out wide, as if trying to capture the sky in her arms. The occasional puffy white cloud passed over her through the bright blue sky.

_First, the body, _she thought. Beginning at her toes, she labored to release every bit of tension from her muscles. Her legs were an obstacle, having walked all over Beacon and just finished sitting up on the grass. _Next, the mind over the body. _Having released her chest and arms, she had to forget her body; convince her mind that it isn't there, ignore all of the cumbersome little signals reporting back to the mind that everything was in its place.

One by one, the sensations around her disappeared, the warmth of the sun and cool autumn breeze faded away. She could no longer feel the very weight of her body, or the earth and grass pressing back beneath her. Sounds fell unheard and sights went unseen, as she focused more and more inward on her Aura.

_Last, the soul. _

The soul, the 'who' to the body's 'what.' The core of one's being, it is contained by the body and mind; without the two the soul has no anchor and may fall prey to the rough seas. A soul can be overburdened by fear, anxiety, jealousy, hatred; these and many more can weigh the soul down and drag it under the water.

The Semblance and the Aura, both manifestations of the soul, are the soul's means of interacting with the physical world. To grow one's Aura is identical to strengthening the soul, and discovering the Semblance is akin to shaping it. The soul must raise anchor and bail out before it may change direction or move forward.

Olivia closed her eyes. She had to cast out the heavy emotions that were dragging her down. They were all there waiting for her: fear for her team and for Vi, anger at herself for her weakness, her jealousy for Celia's semblance and loathing of her own. As she fought the last a new foe emerged, doubt of her self. With each that fell, she felt a growing disconnection with reality. The separation from her mind and body made the world look like the dream.

She found herself walking the forest near her home. The trees rose several stories high before forming a needle canopy overhead that still allowed filtered sunlight through. Outside of the leaves crunching underfoot, the forest was totally silent. When she looked to her side, she saw herself an arm's length away looking the same direction. She raised an arm out to grab a shoulder, and jumped when a hand grasped her own.

She looked to the other side, and saw herself grabbing her shoulder and looking away again. She released the shoulder, and the hand on hers obeyed. Ahead of her stood another Olivia, and she guessed that another stood behind her. As she looked upon the different, yet identical Olivias, it became apparent that more and more were appearing around her. She stepped forward, and the mass obeyed. Surveying the mass once more, some of them were partially phased into the trees of the forest.

She felt another hand on her shoulder, this one was not hers. It shook her repeatedly, she was losing grip on the world around her. As she fell through the ground itself, all of the copies turned and watched her fade from their presence.

The thin girl came back to the real world with a start, a reaching hand almost swiping at her partner's face. Rejoining the realm of the living she heard Erol, "We've been waiting, it's time for dinner."

* * *

><p>Falling again.<p>

Countless times she had fallen, only to find herself placed on an invisible floor once again. Vi had begun to lose hope that she would ever break the cycle. The many times she had collected the courage to combat the enemy horde were all met with defeat. She had finally concluded that without Dust it will be impossible for her.

_If I can't beat this, then I guess I will never be a Hunter, _she thought. _A Hunter_. Something about that word triggered her memory. _What is a Hunter? _The word felt arcane to her. The memory forced its way to the surface, it was from one of Ozpin's infamous cryptic speeches. His voice rang clearly in her mind, "Hunters are comprised of the earth in their bones, the breath in their lungs, the blood in their veins, and the fire in their hearts."

_Earth. Wind. Water. Fire._

Adrift in the void, she called out to her body in search of the faintest glimmer of Dust, of hope. She could feel it inside of her, all four were present and accounted for. There was the rigid and stubborn earth that was the strength in her bones. There was the water, the base of her lifeblood. The air filled her chest. Then there was the fire. Unlike the others the fire was concentrated at one point: her heart.

Vi placed a hand over her beating heart. She focused on that point of fire and willed it into her hand. From her chest emerged a roaring fire, wreathing her hand in bright flickering flames. It had been ages since she felt the warmth of her fire and joyful tears streamed down her cheeks. She huddled around it, reveling in the feeling of the fire as her tears sizzled and hissed in its heat.

The feeling of weight was returning again, as if gravity was falling back into place. She knew what was coming, but the enemy didn't. Standing up on the invisible floor, the red eyes opened around her. She stepped forward again, the white floor expanded from beneath her.

She raised a hand high and a crackling pillar of fire burst from her hand in challenge.

* * *

><p>Professor Ozpin returned to his desk, one last check for correspondence before he turned in for the evening. <em>Finally, <em>he thought as he saw Headmaster Rorek's simple message: "Agreed. -R." This concurred with Azalea's "Explain. -A" that he had gotten four days prior.

The Beacon Headmaster's reply was just as brief, "Friday, 5:00 PM."

_Here begins the division of the civilized world, _thought Ozpin


End file.
